1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the inventive concept relate to an analog to digital converter, and more particularly, to an analog to digital converter performing analog to digital conversion using successive approximation and a method of analog to digital conversion.
2. Discussion of Related Art
An analog to digital converter (abbreviated ADC, A/D or A to D) is an electronic device that converts a continuous quantity to a discrete time digital representation. Analog to digital converters may convert input analog voltages or currents to digital codes or numbers. The numbers may be proportional to the magnitude of the voltage levels of the input analog signals. The resolution of the converter indicates the number of discrete values it can produce over the range of analog values. When the values are stored electronically in a binary form, the resolution is expressed in bits. Accordingly, the number of discrete values available, or “levels”, is usually a power of two. For example, an ADC with a resolution of 8 bits can encode an analog input to one of 256 different levels, since 28=256.
A successive approximation ADC is a type of analog to digital converter that converts a continuous analog waveform into a discrete digital representation via a binary search through all possible quantization levels before finally converging upon a digital output for each conversion.